Free were an English rock band formed in London in 1968 by Paul Rodgers (vocals), Paul Kossoff (guitar), Andy Fraser and Simon Kirke. They are best known for their hit songs "All Right Now" and "Wishing Well". Although renowned for their live performances and non-stop touring, their music did not sell well until their third studio album, Fire and Water (1970), which featured the hit "All Right Now". The song helped secure them a performance at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival, where they played to an audience of 600,000 people. In the early 1970s they became one of the best-selling British blues rock groups; by the time they disbanded, they had sold more than 20 million records worldwide and had played in more than 700 arenas and festival concerts. "All Right Now" remains a staple of R&B and rock, and has entered ASCAP's "One Million" airplay singles club.
Paul Francis Kossoff was an English guitarist, best known as the co-founder and guitarist of the rock band Free. He was ranked number 51 in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
Simon Frederick St George Kirke is an English musician who was the co-founder, drummer, and only continuous member of the rock supergroup Bad Company. Prior to forming Bad Company he was the drummer and co-founder of Free.
Back Street Crawler were an English rock band formed in 1975 by ex-Free guitarist Paul Kossoff. They were signed to Atlantic Records in 1975. The band took the name from Kossoff's solo album, Back Street Crawler. Terry Wilson, Mike Montgomery and Tony Braunagel had played together in the short-lived Bloontz, whose only album was released in 1973 and included versions of the Mike Montgomery songs, "Jason Blue" and "Long Way Down", both of which featured on Back Street Crawler's album The Band Plays On.
Tons of Sobs is the debut studio album by the English rock band Free, released in the UK on 14 March 1969. While the album failed to chart in the UK, it reached number 197 in the US. Free are cited as one of the definitive bands of the British blues boom of the late 1960s, even though this is the only album of their canon that can strictly be called blues rock. It had the band's first minor hit "I'm a Mover", which was released as a single in December 1968.
Free is the second studio album by English rock band Free, recorded and released in 1969. It saw the burgeoning of the songwriting partnership between Paul Rodgers and 16-year-old bassist Andy Fraser; eight of the nine songs are credited to the two.
Fire and Water is the third studio album by English rock band Free, released in 1970. It became the band's breakthrough album, achieving widespread commercial success as the band's first two studio albums were not successful. With the "tremendous" acclaim of Fire and Water at their backs, in the words of AllMusic, Free headlined the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival with an estimated audience of 600,000 to 700,000 attendees and "appeared destined for superstardom".
Highway is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Free. It was recorded extremely quickly in September 1970 following the band's success at the Isle of Wight Festival but with an attitude of relaxation, the band having achieved worldwide success with their previous album Fire and Water and the single "All Right Now". It is a low-key and introspective album compared with its predecessors.
Free at Last is the fifth studio album by the English rock band Free. It was recorded between January and March 1972, and released in May that year. After breaking up in May 1971 due to differences between singer Paul Rodgers and bassist Andy Fraser, the band had reformed in January 1972.
Crawler was a British heavy rock band formed in the late 1970s as an offshoot of Back Street Crawler, following the death of guitarist, Paul Kossoff.
John Douglas "Rabbit" Bundrick is an American keyboardist and vocalist. He is best known for his work with the rock band the Who and associations with others including Eric Burdon, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Roger Waters, Free and Crawler. Bundrick is noted as the principal musician for the cult film The Rocky Horror Picture Show. In the mid-1970s, he was a member of the short-lived group Mallard, formed by ex-members of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band. He is also known as a composer and has recorded solo albums. He was also a member of the Texas group Blackwell, who had a hit single in 1969 entitled "Wonderful".
Now & Live is a double CD compilation-like album released in 1997 by Paul Rodgers of Free and Bad Company fame. In fact, it is a re-release of the studio album Now including a disc of live material recorded in 1995 and issued on the album Live: The Loreley Tapes. The album's full 24-track version, but as one CD also is known.
The First Chapter is a compilation album by gothic rock band The Mission. It gathered the material released on the first two EPs released through the Chapter 22 label. Titled I and II the album was released on Mercury Records in June 1987. It includes all the songs from the first EP in its entirety, but omits the original versions of "The Crystal Ocean" and "Garden of Delight" from the second. The US release was augmented with the B-sides of the V (Severina) EP. The tracks that were originally left off this compilation were included on the expanded and remastered edition. This restored both the short intermissions and 'swan song' from the II EP.
Kossoff Kirke Tetsu Rabbit is a collaborative studio album by guitarist Paul Kossoff, drummer Simon Kirke, bassist Tetsu Yamauchi and keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick, released in 1972. The album is the only release by them as a collaborative effort.
Tetsu Yamauchi is a retired Japanese musician. In the 1970s, he was a member of several popular rock bands, including Free, where he replaced original bassist Andy Fraser before the band's final album Heartbreaker, and Faces, where he replaced Ronnie Lane and appears on the band's final single, "You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything", as well as touring with them and playing on the live album Coast to Coast: Overture and Beginners. He also recorded various solo albums and did extensive work as a session musician before retiring from the music sometime in the late 1990s.
Back Street Crawler is the debut studio album by English guitarist Paul Kossoff, released in 1973; the same year Kossoff's band Free disbanded, Kossoff was able to moderate his drug addiction to record the album, which featured contributions from his former Free bandmates, as well as Yes drummer Alan White.
Face It Live '97 is a live album by John Norum, the guitarist in the Swedish hard rock band Europe. It was released in 1997.
2nd Street is the second studio album by the English rock band Back Street Crawler and was released on the Atco Records label. It was released after Paul Kossoff's death in March 1976, and is dedicated to him. The album is regarded as a considerable advance on their 1975 debut The Band Plays On, but Kossoff's involvement in it is limited to lead guitar lines over the completed tracks.
20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Free is a greatest hits album by the band Free released through Universal Music Group. The collection spans the band's history from 1968 through 1973.
The Free Story is the second greatest hits album by Free, and the first which was released outside of the US. It was released on 31 December 1973 by Island Records. The album reached number 2 in the UK Albums Chart and stayed in the charts for 6 weeks. On 22 July 2013, the album was awarded a silver certification by the BPI, for UK album sales of over 60,000 units.
